Antonio González Velázquez (1723–1793) was a Spanish late-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painter.

Biography

Velázquez was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

into a family of artists; his father

Pablo González Velázquez Pablo González Velázquez (1664–1727) was a Spanish Baroque sculptor. According to the art historian Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez, who is the provider of all known biographical details, Velázquez was born in Jaén and was the head of a f ...

and brothers

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros ( Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro ( Italian), Aleksand ...

and

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

were all painters. He received a scholarship to travel to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1747 from the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

where he was studying under

Corrado Giaquinto Corrado Giaquinto (8 February 1703 – 18 April 1766) was an Italian Rococo painter. Early training and move to Rome He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, (c. 1667–1725), escaping the r ...

. The following year he made the frescoes in the church of Santa Trinita degli Spagnoli. In 1752 he returned to Spain and a year later helped to paint the walls of the church of the Monastery of the Incarnation of Madrid and the cupola of the chapel of the Basilica del Pilar de Zaragoza. His reputation grew to the point of being appointed court painter in 1757, in which he participated in the decoration of the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid () is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Eu ...

with allegorical painting on the ceiling of the antechamber of the Queen. Not long after, in 1765, Velázquez was promoted to the position of director of the Academy of San Fernando in Mexico City. He worked the rest of his life along with Francisco Bayeu y Subías and other painters in developing cartons for the

Royal Tapestry Factory The Royal Tapestry Factory (Spanish: ''Real Fábrica de Tapices de Santa Bárbara'') is a factory making tapestries in Madrid, Spain, which was founded in 1720 and is still in operation. History The factory was founded by Philip V after Spain l ...

under the direction of

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Early life Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, at Ústí nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the son of Ismael Mengs, a Danish-born painter wh ...

. His son

Zacarías González Velázquez Zacarías González Velázquez (5 November 1763 – 31 January 1834) was a Spanish painter; known primarily for his portraits and religious works. Biography Velázquez was born in Madrid to a family of artists. His father was the painter ...

also went on to become a painter.

References

José de la Mano, ''Antonio González Velázquez''
* Cean Bermudez, John Augustine, Historical Dictionary of the most distinguished teachers of the Fine Arts in Spain, Madrid, 1800, vol. 2.
Scholarly articles
in English about Antonio González Velázquez both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

Gallery

File:Manuela Tolosa y Abylio.jpg, ''Manuela Tolosa y Abylio'' File:Allegory of the Spanish Monarchy by Antonio Gonzalez Velazquez, Spanish, c. 1753-1764, oil on canvas - Meadows Museum - Southern Methodist University - DSC05322.jpg, ''Allegory of the Spanish Monarchy'' File:Brooklyn Museum - Adoration of the Magi (Adoración de los Magos) - Antonio González Velázquez.jpg, ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

'' File:González Velázquez - Sacra Conversazione.jpg, '' Sacred Conversation'' File:Antonio Gonzalez Velázquez - Saints Ippolito, Taurino, and Ercolano - 1981.20 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg, ''Saints Ippolito, Taurino, and Ercolano'' (Ercolano could either refer to

Herculanus of Perugia Herculanus of Perugia (; died 549 AD) was a bishop of Perugia. He was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church and is recognised as patron saint of Perugia. His main feast day is November 7; his second feast is celebrated on March 1. Accordi ...

Herculanus of Brescia Saint Herculanus of Brescia (died ca. 550 AD) was a bishop of Brescia The Diocese of Brescia () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy (Northwe ...

) File:Brooklyn Museum - Adoration of the Shepherds (Adoración de los pastores) - Antonio González Velázquez.jpg, '' Adoration of the Shepherds''

External links

1723 births 1793 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Spanish Baroque painters Painters from Madrid {{Spain-painter-stub